The future of mobility: Towards the car of tomorrow

Over the past decade, the way we travel has continued to grow. Today, there are more than one billion cars on the road. This exponential growth is difficult to sustain for the planet in the long term. The health crisis of 2020 acted as a wake-up call for many consumers. During lockdowns, mobility was reduced by half and soft-mobility solutions such as bicycles became real alternatives in the city. However, the car, the ultimate symbol of freedom and autonomy, will remain and will surely be there for years to come. Our thematic list focuses on this sector, even though mobility affects many more areas than land transport. The key players of the old automotive world are looking for solutions to move towards greener vehicles. Among the underlying trends, we find the emergence of electric cars (BEV) over the last decade. According to a recent June 2021 report by UBS, the deployment of electrification is expected to grow exponentially rather than linearly. This movement has recently gained momentum since 2019 with the arrival of new competitors and the release of new vehicle models. While electric vehicles are not a silver bullet, potential improvements in manufacturing methods and battery components will likely reduce the pollution impact of these means of transportation. The electrification of the world's vehicle fleet is expected to continue its rapid growth and account for 70% of vehicles in service by 2030. Widespread electrification will be necessary to achieve the European Union's goal of zero net carbon emissions by 2050. All vehicle manufacturers will have to comply sooner or later. Newcomers are already grabbing some market share, but brand synergy will be an added strength for large groups and should help them catch up. For electric (and hybrid) cars to be accessible to all, the cost of batteries must of course be reduced. According to Wright's Law, for every cumulative doubling of units produced, the cost of battery cells will fall by 28%. The battery is the most important cost element of an EV. This cost reduction is therefore critical to achieving price parity with gasoline-powered vehicles. Autonomous vehicles are also gaining momentum. They promise to reduce the number of serious accidents and improve traffic flow through inter-vehicle communication. By 2030, 79% of vehicles sold worldwide will have a level 2 or higher autonomy. The entire urban network and infrastructure can also benefit from this trend. The companies in this thematic list are actively participating in the transformation of the industrial and commercial landscape of tomorrow's mobility, whether they are manufacturers of clean cars, trucks or buses, suppliers to the sector, car-sharing players, manufacturers of batteries or intelligent infrastructures linked to tomorrow's mobility. Cleaner, more sensible, better thought-out mobility. The stocks on this list could benefit from this long-term trend.